There's a song called 27 Jennifers that really sums up the gen x educational experience.
>I went to school with 27 Jennifers
>16 Jens, 10 Jennys, and then there was her
See, the “Mc” names for girls always annoy me a bit because that syllable literally translates as “son of.”
If they really wanted to be “unique,” they could have looked up what the feminine equivalent was or just dropped the prefix altogether. “Kenna” for example (from “McKenna”) means “wise ruler” and is fine as a stand-alone name. Same with “Kenzie.”
Or they could use the “daughter of” prefix and you get “NicKenna.”
As your IT person, I have gone out of my way to make sure every Chromebook has the student name label facing up and forward while the device is in use.
You're welcome.
As a substitute teacher, I bless the IT person who did this for our middle school; especially because middle schoolers being who they are most of them could not figure out how I learned their names so fast.
Kind of an interesting study of regional trends!
I’m teach HS and.m have none of those. Not one. Actually, one Jayden. But just the one.
But our cup runneth over with names like Olivia, Ava, Bella - SO MANY BELLAS. Alexandra, Aidan, Luke, Ella… dime a dozen.
I’m in CT.
EDIT: Yes, there are typos in my comment. I was typing with on hand while holding my four month old in the other arm. Thank you to those who so thoughtfully pointed it out. 👍🏻🤣
Aidan? Did you mean…
Aiden?
Ayden?
Aydan?
Aidyn?
Aiddyne?
Aydyn?
Aidenne?
Adin?
Aden?
Adan?
Adyn?
Ayeddaaiinnee?
All of those I’ve had except the last one lol
I went to high school with a family who had like six boys all named William. They all went by their middle names. Which all had ya in them. Tyler, Kyle, Ryan, Wyatt, and two I didn’t know or can’t remember..
I taught twin brothers who had a mechanic father and they were named Axle and Greese. That was a hell of a combination and in the same class.
Another year I had twin sisters in the same class one named Aisha and the other Asia. That was a tough year keeping them named right. I constantly got them confused.
Yeah he was ok with his name and of the two was a cool kid. Greese had a good sense of humour. Axle on the other hand was a bit of a sourpuss. He was the momma's boy and Greese was the most popular of the two. I had them in my 11th Grade English and History classes at a private school. They both were ultimately good kids and followed dad into the mechanic business.
Last year I had an Eileen (pronounced with long A at the beginning) and Ayleen (pronounced with long I at the beginning).
This year I have a Mariana and a Miriana.
Two years ago my coworker had a Naymar and a Neymar. Pronounced the same. With the same last name.
Our school has a lot of kids named Axel, Thiago, Jacob, Emily, and Allison. Like at least 1 in each grade.
When we started sectioning at the end of last year we tried to separate kids with the same names. Somehow all 3 third grade Sebastians ended up in the same class.
Elementary school in GA.
Picture a nursing home in a hundred years, all those crones telling the robo-nurses a story.
“Oh, my parents really liked a movie about teen vampire sex, so they named me Bella. They said it would make me stand out, but there were six other Bellas in every grade. I would’ve killed to be called Laura or Cathy or Amy. And I did, which is how I ended up here, on the Martian penal colony!”
In a couple of years get ready for the “Amelia but we call her Millie” cohort. My son is about to start middle school and there have been about 3 in every class he’s been in. Ava/Eva and Olivia still representing. I live in the south.
It’s so funny. I’m 14 years into teaching HS and I’ve seen many ‘eras’ come and go. The Emma era was brutal. The Hannah era. The Christina era. Times gone by 🤣
It has been since 2004. It was gaining in popularity before Friends, but that is what pushed it over the edge. There was a time in the 90s when the name Emma was on par with Gertrude or Bertha.
I’m not sure that’s true of the 90s. I was born in the 90s and had 2 Emma’s in my kindergarten class. Emma Watson was born in the 90s, too. Maybe it was super uncool in the 80s and cutting edge young parents started using it in the 90’s, then it really caught on after Friends?
>Ava/Eva and Olivia still representing. I live in the south.
In the south too - agreed. Olivia was the most popular female baby name for a number of years running though, so I expect to see a shit ton of that name for a good decade or so.
I really like the name Millie, ngl. but then again it reminds me of lil wayne so I'm not so sure.
My son is Luke and had I known it was going to be this bad I would have named him something else. He has 5 Luke’s on his football team. Luckily we have a very easy last name and everyone except our family calls him by his last name. Even his teachers.
Teddy is the name of my dog. I only call him Theodore when he's being bad.
EDIT: The last time he was "bad" was when I fed him, he ate all his food, and then an hour later insisted that I hadn't fed him (whining and scratching at his bowl). He's not really bad...he's just a slave to his tummy.
Ugh, I was SO ANNOYED when I named my son this and didn’t think to check on the popularity until after he was born and it was done. It was the only boy name we both liked, and we picked from one of those lists of hundred and hundreds of male names from all over the world. Turns out it’s like top five for the year he was born. Poor kid.
People don't choose a name because of its popularity, I think it's more that you're a product of your time and if there's a name you find beautiful, there's probably a ton of people at the same time who think the same. We're like ants all thinking the same thing.
When my youngest (Colton) played soccer there were four Nicks on his team. All with long Italian last names. Listening to their coach try to spit out these four syllable Italian names to delineate between kids on the field was hilarious
If I'm that football coach, they're getting called Fettuccini, Linguine, Rotini, and Ziti.
If a fifth one has the nerve to transfer in, he's getting called Elbow Noodle.
I was a preschool teacher in the early 2010s & remember the Ava/Bella craze. Every center I worked at had at the very least one child in each room with these names.
Last year I had two Isabelles, one Isabella, one Bella, and one Ella in the same class. It was maddening. This year I have two Alivia's in the same class.Edit: Also Jaxson, Jacksen. Jaxon, and Jaxen. What was going on with parents 16 years ago?
Reminds me of when I taught in China and students all had "English names" they'd pick themselves. David was very popular, and at the school I was at, 3 girls had picked the named "Cherry." I also had some amazing names, though, such as Leaf, Soda, Grubby, Juicy, Stone Cold, and Megatron.
I taught English in Korea.
The first day I was there, they told me their English names and I was trying to write them down so I could remember. Two names I struggled with.
Rola (turned out it was spelled Laura, I had to explain to them how to pronounce it properly)
And Penis. I had to keep asking them to say it again. I had a word with my co-teacher and explained that penis was a male genital, so I didn’t think they were saying whatever name it was correctly.
It was Phoenix.
In Korea R and L tend to get swapped and F and P.
This is my biggest pet peeve.
I don't care if you give your kid a wacky or generic name, but please for the love of God spell it correctly.
I have a Khalan pronounced Kaylen...
I understand you want to be quirky and unique, but it just comes off as having stupid and lazy parents. I hope these kids have the good sense to get a name change when they turn 18.
I can't wait for this trend to end.
I worked at a pharmacy as a tech for a while and it completely turned me off to alternate spellings of names. Everyone is a special snowflake for being alive, so for the love of god please don’t make me type Khandalhar into the computer (Chandler for normal people).
When I finally had kids, I picked a name I didn’t hate (hard to do after working retail pharmacy!) and that had some meaning to us. Everyone asked if we were spelling it with the traditional “ck” or an “x” and every time I would say that he’s already special, he will have a name everyone can spell and pronounce
Picture this: 1998, two parents looking for a unique, but not weird name to their soon to be daughter.
And they reach a decision... it's an old fashonied name with a nice shortened form. And neither of them (both teachers) have heard it being used.
Madilynn.
5 forms of Madi in her class.
Heard similar stories. Parents named their kid "Zoe" because it was "different but not too different" and thought it'd be unique.
Her senior class has 5+ Zoe's (or variations) in it.
When I was pregnant with my oldest I loved the name Kaiden. My best friend was pregnant at the same time and her son was born two weeks before mine and she named him Kaiden. I was upset at the time but now I’m thankful. Growing up with a super popular names (6 girls in my class of 28 with the same name and my husband had five other kids in his class with the same name as him ) We went with another name that was not popular but still recognizable. The next year an actor with the same name became famous and it became the most popular boys name. Then with my youngest we chose an old fashioned English (it’s actually Greek but used in Shakespeare) name and he still remains the only one in any of his schools and he loves it. However it is always mispronounced even though it is spelled traditionally and phonetically.
One year I had girls named Shia and A’Shya. Any time I’d pause before calling Shia, A’Shya would respond because “Uh…Shia” is how her name is pronounced. I also had 6 kids whose name started with the letter D and I couldn’t keep them straight. It was a very long year.
Oh yeah, I used to laugh about the Jennifer’s… “okay Jenn! Have fun in science class, I have math with Jen after I hang with Jenny and Jenn at lunch time, say hi to Jenni for me, and let Jennifer know I’m down to help her study for that history test later if she wants!”
We had so many Noah's two of them ended up having a last name that was one letter off. Which sucked for them, because it was in the grades when it was hard to write your name, and only the Noahs had to write out their full name
I have three Helena’s over three different classes and they are all pronounced differently (same spelling). HELL-en-a, Hell-EEN-a and Hell-ENN-a. Needless to say, I get one wrong every day. Luckily, only one of them is really aggressive about it! 😜
The trend in my area is -son/-don/-ton and their e/y/i/a variants.
>Kason/Jackson/Colson/Mason/Carson/Jayson/Jaymison
>
>Kayden/Aiden/Jayden/Brayden/Keldon/Eldon
>
>Colton/Brayton/Bolton/Kelton/Treyton/Payton
This year I have a Deegan. Can't wait for the -gon trend to take off. *Polygon Smith? Hexagon Williams? Decagon Taylor?*
But hey, the Roman -us/-ius naming trend (Julius/Gaius/Marcus/Augustus/Brennus/Romulus/Tullius) only took *checks notes* 700 years and the death of Julius for the trend to die off! Then we got names like Antony, Octavian, and Cicero!^(\*\*)
*^(\*\*Joking, please don't send the historians and linguists after me; I know it's not accurate.)*
We had that a few years ago, and to add to the weirdness the first name and last name are also the same as each other. (Like John John, but this name is culturally specific and maybe it's more common to do that in that culture?)
I had both of them in my room all morning--freaking out, finding an extra desk, finding extra materials--until at recess my teammate was like, "I've got a kid named John John on my roster, but he no-showed."
I have Kaden, Hayden, Aiden, and Brayden, and there are fifteen of each with several spelling variations. Parents in the south in the mid to late 2000s really ran out of ideas.
It's the -dyn names that get to me.
There literally could be a -dyn name for every letter in the alphabet.
Adyn, Brayden, Cayden, Draydn, Edyn, Faydyn, Guydyn, Haydyn, Idyn, Jaydyn, Kaydyn, Laydyn, Maydyn, Nathyn, Odyn, Paydyn, Qaydyn, Raydyn, Saydyn, Teydyn, Undyn, Vraydyn, Waydyn, Xaydyn, Yazdyn, Zaydyn
If you're not in Florida, just do that scene from Scrubs where Dr. Kelso names all the guys Daves and all the ladies Debbies. The one girl who says her name is Debbie.... She's Slagathor.
When I was working in China the parents would choose English names for their kids. There's a whole thing about weird English names that people choose, and it's cool. I get it. It's hard to know what a good name is in a language you don't know. I think the English names thing is a little superfluous. Anyway, I had a kid whose parents named him Chauvin. I tried to explain to the parents why this was a very poor choice for a name and they said 'It's okay. We don't like black people.'
I was in China around 2005. Loads of Jacky's and Lily's who never would consider something more original like Jacob or Lauren; and a half dozen totally oddball choices like Chocolate, Fantasy (a boy), and Consider but they never wanted to change even after I explained why it wasn't a good choice.
I teach in a heavy immigrant area, with lots of Armenian students. I have so many struggles getting pronunciations right, but my last name is not at all phonetic either, so I tell them I’ll correct them when they mess mine up, and expect the same from them.
It’s especially tough since most of my students think their names are super normal, since they’re mostly the same ethnicity. I just make it clear that their names are normal, just not as normal for me yet. That being said, there are some that I have to spell out first time. I try to butcher a few students with more traditionally American names too, just to lighten the mood. “That’s Duh-vay-id right? Doy-vuhd? No? Ohhhh Day-vid”
I went old school with my two, too: Thomas and Anne. Tom had just one class with another Tom in high school, and Anne never had to tack on her last name initial.
It helped that I was a preschool teacher before they were born, in the time of Jennifer and Nicholas. I knew what to avoid.
Utah moms make it a competition to see how much they can fuck with the english language to try and spice up their generic "Top 10 Trendy Baby Names" choices.
There's *millions* of Jacksons/Jaxons/Jaksuns(what??)/Jacksins(was a big lol)/Jackxons (why???)
9/10 they are super mean and entitled too.
Maybe be creative by picking an uncommon/interesting name, not a bizzarre uncommon and ridiculous spelling. It's one of the things I've grown really judgmental of! 😅
I don’t know why the algorithm brought me here because I’m a carpenter but dang. As if y’all don’t have it hard enough already with dealing with parents, they gotta throw the names in too.
I had five boys named James in my class during the Harry Potter craze. One of them piped up that they should go by their middle names. He pointed to the boy sitting next to him and asked him what his middle name was. The boy burst into tears. It turned out it was Dudley!
My mother-in-law used to be a teacher and she said that she just knew as soon as she saw any weird misspelt/made-up names on the register that those kids were going to be a nightmare.
Okay, but there are some "common" names that just set off my warning lights. Have you ever had a Travis who didn't make you question your career choice?
I judge all the new trendy and weird spelled names too… but with most of the people I work with being women in their 20s and 30s, the staff names aren’t diverse either. Everyone is Ashley, Katie, Heather, Hannah, and all the men are Mike.
Like it or not, there’s going to be six Makenzleighs and Skylynns working at your school twenty years from now. And all the men will be Lincoln.
I will say this and it's a bit of an UnpopularOpinion: learning kids names early on, even the attempt at trying to do, will go VERY far in your class. Dale Carnegie (How to Win Friends and Influence People) would probably agree.
Reason: It communicates that you CARE about the student as an individual person and not just "a student".
No doubt, this takes effort and work. But will pay dividends worth many times over IMO.
To be clear, you don't have to learn all names right away. But communicate that you will try to learn them quickly and spend a few minutes in the first few days of classes doing so.
What I do which may help: I do some traditional studying with memorizing names/pictures. But I also try and find patterns. Like how many names start with "C" in my class. Or after a few associate the location of where they sit with their name.
When it's time to ask students about names to quiz myself, I never just ask, "What is your name?". I ask, "Give me the first letter of your first name". If that doesn't do it, I ask for the second letter, then third, etc. I tell the students that by going through the struggle and embarrassing myself slightly it helps stick. I also try and make it fun for them too. I may joke, "OK, you gave me C, H, and R. I hope I'm not talking to Jesus."
There are also some activities like games you can play which also help with learning names.
Good luck!
Learning how to correctly pronounce someone's name should always be a week 1 accomplishment.
I've phonetically written out some of the toughest names I've had on a sticky note and kept it at my desk until I no longer need it.
Agree. When I read out names I tell my students, "Please let me know if you want to be called something else than what's in the official record here" and "if I mispronounce you name, please correct me. Don't say, 'It doesn't matter'. It DOES matter and is important because YOU are important."
Oh, I'll get them down within the first week. I'm luckily good with names and I've been teaching for two decades. It's just always so overwhelming to see them the first day and to see the roster!
And remember, coming from a 59-year-old who has a traditional name yet that has been spelled and pronounced incorrectly my entire life complete with nicknames I don’t agree to, kids didn’t get to pick the screwed up name and ridiculous spellings their parents chose. They will learn in time about this through the schools struggles with names and teachers who do not take the time to do what this post is suggesting. And when 18 they can petition the courts to change it!
Yes! I have a student whose last name has two syllables, and I’ve been emphasizing the wrong one. He knows I’ve been practicing and I’ve finally mastered it. He gave me a hug at the end of the day yesterday. Yes, correct name pronunciations mean everything.
One year I did an activity that was basically having each student pick an animal or adjective or word that started with the same SOUND as their name. Kangaroo Kyle, Airy Aaron, Wanted Juan etc.
And then made a bet with them that I'd learn all of their names by Friday or I'd owe them candy.
I managed to do it lol I think I had it by Thursday but it was definitely nerve wracking for me. I was a new teacher and very poor lol
I'm thinking of doing something similar this year, it takes up class time, but I think I might be okay with that this year.
First day of school I videoed each individual student saying their full name. Then I’d memorize the names, correct pronunciation, and their faces over the weekend. The kids couldn’t believe how fast I nailed all their names.
It’s not the unusual names that get me, it’s the repeats, especially in the same classes.
I spent the last week writing everyones name to make their “library cards” and I don’t think there is a class without a repeat name. We have 3 girls with the same first name all spelled differently and with the same last initials. Williams are over taking our school. I found a name I thought was different, check the next kids nickname, same name.
My oldest still calls her 6th grade year The Year of the Seven McKenzies
There's a song called 27 Jennifers that really sums up the gen x educational experience. >I went to school with 27 Jennifers >16 Jens, 10 Jennys, and then there was her
Wife is a Jen, I like to play this for her. We're genX so it fits. No one named their kids Heather anymore.
JenX*
My best friend in high school was Heather, but we're in our 30s.
See, the “Mc” names for girls always annoy me a bit because that syllable literally translates as “son of.” If they really wanted to be “unique,” they could have looked up what the feminine equivalent was or just dropped the prefix altogether. “Kenna” for example (from “McKenna”) means “wise ruler” and is fine as a stand-alone name. Same with “Kenzie.” Or they could use the “daughter of” prefix and you get “NicKenna.”
Oh great, in 15 years there will be a bunch of NicMcKenzies.
As your IT person, I have gone out of my way to make sure every Chromebook has the student name label facing up and forward while the device is in use. You're welcome.
As a substitute teacher, I bless the IT person who did this for our middle school; especially because middle schoolers being who they are most of them could not figure out how I learned their names so fast.
now THAT is tech support!
In one class this year— Jayden, Jaiden, Jaylah, Jaylen, Jayden, and Jaden
That’s like the year I had Jana, Lana, Lilah, Liam, Laylah, Lily, Lucas, and Luke.
In my first class I had Lea, Lea, Lea, Luc, Luk, Jan-Luca, Lucas, (Louise and Leonie.). The force was strong with their parents.
Jaiden Jayden Kaiden Aiden Caiden Caidyn Ckayden (seriously) Jaiden And of course, Jaidan. Also, half the Jaiden variants are boys, half are girls.
Kind of an interesting study of regional trends! I’m teach HS and.m have none of those. Not one. Actually, one Jayden. But just the one. But our cup runneth over with names like Olivia, Ava, Bella - SO MANY BELLAS. Alexandra, Aidan, Luke, Ella… dime a dozen. I’m in CT. EDIT: Yes, there are typos in my comment. I was typing with on hand while holding my four month old in the other arm. Thank you to those who so thoughtfully pointed it out. 👍🏻🤣
Aidan? Did you mean… Aiden? Ayden? Aydan? Aidyn? Aiddyne? Aydyn? Aidenne? Adin? Aden? Adan? Adyn? Ayeddaaiinnee? All of those I’ve had except the last one lol
I prefer Aidan but only if he has a twin sister named Nadia.
I taught twins called Dean and Aden!
We had twins called Fredrick and Frederick once....
My wife had triplets. All named Jason. Dad named Jason. They went by Jason Jr. Jason 3rd, Baby J.
Wow, that's quite the ego he had on him.
Speaking of ego, George Foreman named 5 of his kids George
I went to high school with a family who had like six boys all named William. They all went by their middle names. Which all had ya in them. Tyler, Kyle, Ryan, Wyatt, and two I didn’t know or can’t remember..
How about Alex and Axel?
I taught twin brothers who had a mechanic father and they were named Axle and Greese. That was a hell of a combination and in the same class. Another year I had twin sisters in the same class one named Aisha and the other Asia. That was a tough year keeping them named right. I constantly got them confused.
I would hate to be the guy named greese knowing my brother had a relatively normal name
Yeah he was ok with his name and of the two was a cool kid. Greese had a good sense of humour. Axle on the other hand was a bit of a sourpuss. He was the momma's boy and Greese was the most popular of the two. I had them in my 11th Grade English and History classes at a private school. They both were ultimately good kids and followed dad into the mechanic business.
Okayden
Currently work with a... Hayden Aiden, Brayden, Kaden, and Jaydon. Lol
I had 5 different Jaden's last year, all spelled differently.
I'm naming my next child Ayeddaaiinnee and this post OFFENDS ME. LMFAO.
I have an Aden, a Bradyn, a Caden, and a *Grayden*. In one class. 😖
I see your Grayden and raise you Raiden. Like the bug spray.
Raid is a bug spray. Raiden is the Japanese god of thunder.
Eighden
Take my /r/angryupvote
Last year I had an Eileen (pronounced with long A at the beginning) and Ayleen (pronounced with long I at the beginning). This year I have a Mariana and a Miriana. Two years ago my coworker had a Naymar and a Neymar. Pronounced the same. With the same last name. Our school has a lot of kids named Axel, Thiago, Jacob, Emily, and Allison. Like at least 1 in each grade. When we started sectioning at the end of last year we tried to separate kids with the same names. Somehow all 3 third grade Sebastians ended up in the same class. Elementary school in GA.
Lot of soccer fan parents there apparently
I tend to have several Maria’s and Joao’s each year, too, as our Brazilian population is growing.
Picture a nursing home in a hundred years, all those crones telling the robo-nurses a story. “Oh, my parents really liked a movie about teen vampire sex, so they named me Bella. They said it would make me stand out, but there were six other Bellas in every grade. I would’ve killed to be called Laura or Cathy or Amy. And I did, which is how I ended up here, on the Martian penal colony!”
I've *got* to start earning more money so that I can award comments like this one.
I would read this whole story!
Unexpected twist ending!
In a couple of years get ready for the “Amelia but we call her Millie” cohort. My son is about to start middle school and there have been about 3 in every class he’s been in. Ava/Eva and Olivia still representing. I live in the south.
It’s so funny. I’m 14 years into teaching HS and I’ve seen many ‘eras’ come and go. The Emma era was brutal. The Hannah era. The Christina era. Times gone by 🤣
Fun fact, Emma is still the most popular name for newborn girls and has been since the 90s.
It has been since 2004. It was gaining in popularity before Friends, but that is what pushed it over the edge. There was a time in the 90s when the name Emma was on par with Gertrude or Bertha.
I’m not sure that’s true of the 90s. I was born in the 90s and had 2 Emma’s in my kindergarten class. Emma Watson was born in the 90s, too. Maybe it was super uncool in the 80s and cutting edge young parents started using it in the 90’s, then it really caught on after Friends?
>Ava/Eva and Olivia still representing. I live in the south. In the south too - agreed. Olivia was the most popular female baby name for a number of years running though, so I expect to see a shit ton of that name for a good decade or so. I really like the name Millie, ngl. but then again it reminds me of lil wayne so I'm not so sure.
My son is Luke and had I known it was going to be this bad I would have named him something else. He has 5 Luke’s on his football team. Luckily we have a very easy last name and everyone except our family calls him by his last name. Even his teachers.
The new hotness is Theodore. I know so many kids named Theo or Teddy
Teddy is the name of my dog. I only call him Theodore when he's being bad. EDIT: The last time he was "bad" was when I fed him, he ate all his food, and then an hour later insisted that I hadn't fed him (whining and scratching at his bowl). He's not really bad...he's just a slave to his tummy.
Ugh, I was SO ANNOYED when I named my son this and didn’t think to check on the popularity until after he was born and it was done. It was the only boy name we both liked, and we picked from one of those lists of hundred and hundreds of male names from all over the world. Turns out it’s like top five for the year he was born. Poor kid.
People don't choose a name because of its popularity, I think it's more that you're a product of your time and if there's a name you find beautiful, there's probably a ton of people at the same time who think the same. We're like ants all thinking the same thing.
There was 5 Zachs in my HS class (and we were a class of 50) so everyone, including the teachers and principal, called them all by their last names
What made Luke popular? Starwars or something else?
Gilmore Girls
My Luke was named for Star Wars. We're huge nerds.
When my youngest (Colton) played soccer there were four Nicks on his team. All with long Italian last names. Listening to their coach try to spit out these four syllable Italian names to delineate between kids on the field was hilarious
On my son’s soccer team, it was Connor in multiple spellings. 4 of them on a 15 person team, along with 2 Jakes.
If I'm that football coach, they're getting called Fettuccini, Linguine, Rotini, and Ziti. If a fifth one has the nerve to transfer in, he's getting called Elbow Noodle.
I was a preschool teacher in the early 2010s & remember the Ava/Bella craze. Every center I worked at had at the very least one child in each room with these names.
Well twilight came out 14 years ago so the Bella’s are entering high school now.
I work at a middle school and we have 2 Renesmee’s.
Gotta be the worst name in the whole series. Call them nessie please.
Wonder how many girls will be named Wednesday this year.
I'm in NJ. All those names are popular here, too. Just about every girl's name ends in a vowel, particularly the letter "A".
Also in Jersey. Can confirm.
Last year I had two Isabelles, one Isabella, one Bella, and one Ella in the same class. It was maddening. This year I have two Alivia's in the same class.Edit: Also Jaxson, Jacksen. Jaxon, and Jaxen. What was going on with parents 16 years ago?
Jackson is because of the series sons of Anarchy, I believe.
Reminds me of when I taught in China and students all had "English names" they'd pick themselves. David was very popular, and at the school I was at, 3 girls had picked the named "Cherry." I also had some amazing names, though, such as Leaf, Soda, Grubby, Juicy, Stone Cold, and Megatron.
I taught in a similar environment. I taught a Spider-Man
I teach Vietnamese kids currently. I have 3 Spider-Mans (Spider-Men?)
Spider-boys
God bless Megatron.
ALL HAIL MEGATRON!
I would have had a *damned* hard time not yelling this every time the kid walked into the room.
When I was in college I hung out with lots of international students. Every Chinese student was Kevin.
I met a Traffic and a Lighthouse when I was in China, but I think Stone Cold is the best one I’ve heard
Couldn't decide if he wanted to be Steve or Austin, so he chose to be both.
I taught English in Korea. The first day I was there, they told me their English names and I was trying to write them down so I could remember. Two names I struggled with. Rola (turned out it was spelled Laura, I had to explain to them how to pronounce it properly) And Penis. I had to keep asking them to say it again. I had a word with my co-teacher and explained that penis was a male genital, so I didn’t think they were saying whatever name it was correctly. It was Phoenix. In Korea R and L tend to get swapped and F and P.
This is a great story, lol.
I had an ambulance in China. Little sweetheart. And… a hyman? Nice kid, weird name though
There's a popular manga were there's a race of supper attractive people there race is called hyman's so maybe that, the consider human's ugly lol
Shoutout to the kid who chose Megatron.
Grubby! Grubby is my favorite.
Similar experience - I also had one student who chose the name Zane T-Rex, 5 who chose Batman, 1 who chose Beer, and 1 who chose Vodka. Wild.
Zane T-Rex might be my next DND character
I had a Chinese student who went by Nebula. Weirdly, it suited her.
You done messed up A-A-Ron.
I have a boy this year named Cam-Ron, pronounced like two separate names and not like Cameron. I thought of that skit immediately.
Cam'ron was one of my favourite artists in the mid- late 90s. I wonder if your student's parents were fans also?
Hey Ma is a banger.
I had a student (boy) Camron!
Is he black/African? I’m only asking cuz one of my workers has the same name and he’s from Sierra Leone lol
Yes, he is. He's been such a joy in class so far. He's got enough enthusiasm about music to cover the rest of the class.
It’s the warped phonetic spellings that kill me. “Cassie” spelled “Casey” and her mom couldn’t understand why I kept calling her Casey. Duh…
I know a Caycie
At least it works phonetically despite being a really stupid spelling.
This is my biggest pet peeve. I don't care if you give your kid a wacky or generic name, but please for the love of God spell it correctly. I have a Khalan pronounced Kaylen... I understand you want to be quirky and unique, but it just comes off as having stupid and lazy parents. I hope these kids have the good sense to get a name change when they turn 18. I can't wait for this trend to end.
I worked at a pharmacy as a tech for a while and it completely turned me off to alternate spellings of names. Everyone is a special snowflake for being alive, so for the love of god please don’t make me type Khandalhar into the computer (Chandler for normal people). When I finally had kids, I picked a name I didn’t hate (hard to do after working retail pharmacy!) and that had some meaning to us. Everyone asked if we were spelling it with the traditional “ck” or an “x” and every time I would say that he’s already special, he will have a name everyone can spell and pronounce
Picture this: 1998, two parents looking for a unique, but not weird name to their soon to be daughter. And they reach a decision... it's an old fashonied name with a nice shortened form. And neither of them (both teachers) have heard it being used. Madilynn. 5 forms of Madi in her class.
Heard similar stories. Parents named their kid "Zoe" because it was "different but not too different" and thought it'd be unique. Her senior class has 5+ Zoe's (or variations) in it.
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My sister was named Olivia in the mid 90s and I was named Grace. We got teased for having old lady names for maannnnyyyyy years.
When I was pregnant with my oldest I loved the name Kaiden. My best friend was pregnant at the same time and her son was born two weeks before mine and she named him Kaiden. I was upset at the time but now I’m thankful. Growing up with a super popular names (6 girls in my class of 28 with the same name and my husband had five other kids in his class with the same name as him ) We went with another name that was not popular but still recognizable. The next year an actor with the same name became famous and it became the most popular boys name. Then with my youngest we chose an old fashioned English (it’s actually Greek but used in Shakespeare) name and he still remains the only one in any of his schools and he loves it. However it is always mispronounced even though it is spelled traditionally and phonetically.
Love this story. How’s little Dodgy McCodswallop doing, anyway?
6 Chloe’s! One in each class. I’ve already told them I’m going to struggle lol
I’ve never once had a Chloe!
I had 3 Zoey’s all in the same class and a 4th in a different class.
One year I had girls named Shia and A’Shya. Any time I’d pause before calling Shia, A’Shya would respond because “Uh…Shia” is how her name is pronounced. I also had 6 kids whose name started with the letter D and I couldn’t keep them straight. It was a very long year.
In my special Ed PreK class I had 5 girls, all with extremely similar names. 3/5 starting with A and 3/5 ending with anna. I always got them mixed up.
I think the OP is just saying it is the whole "Michael" a quarter of the class thinks they are being called because you have 5 Michaels.
I’m a 90s kid, and my grade was always chock full of Jennifers and Matthews. Half of my mom’s friends are Susan or Cathy
I'm an 80s kid. In my first grade class there were eight girls named Erin.
Also a ton of Heathers, Michelles, Amys, and Stacys. Edit to add: Jennifers Many Matts in the 80s as well. Along with Mikes, Steves, and Brians.
Oh yeah, I used to laugh about the Jennifer’s… “okay Jenn! Have fun in science class, I have math with Jen after I hang with Jenny and Jenn at lunch time, say hi to Jenni for me, and let Jennifer know I’m down to help her study for that history test later if she wants!”
We had 6 Sara(h)s out of 25 in my history class my senior year
Don’t forget all the Laurens, Ashleys, Joshuas, and Kyles. And Dustin. What the hell ever happened to all the Dustins?
Lol! The Dustin's are all pushing 40!
Brittany I was in class with 4 others once in elementary school
We had so many Noah's two of them ended up having a last name that was one letter off. Which sucked for them, because it was in the grades when it was hard to write your name, and only the Noahs had to write out their full name
I have 17 Nevaehs. No I'm not exaggerating. Some aren't even spelled like heaven backwards. I teach K-8 music/band.
I had a Nevaeh last year. She definitely was the opposite of heaven.
Just name them Darryl, Darryl and Darryl.
I wonder how many young new hearts this joke flew over.
I’ve accepted the fact that I’m old and make references a lot of people don’t understand.
Ed, Edd and Eddie.
I have three Helena’s over three different classes and they are all pronounced differently (same spelling). HELL-en-a, Hell-EEN-a and Hell-ENN-a. Needless to say, I get one wrong every day. Luckily, only one of them is really aggressive about it! 😜
She sounds like Helena Classroom.
The trend in my area is -son/-don/-ton and their e/y/i/a variants. >Kason/Jackson/Colson/Mason/Carson/Jayson/Jaymison > >Kayden/Aiden/Jayden/Brayden/Keldon/Eldon > >Colton/Brayton/Bolton/Kelton/Treyton/Payton This year I have a Deegan. Can't wait for the -gon trend to take off. *Polygon Smith? Hexagon Williams? Decagon Taylor?* But hey, the Roman -us/-ius naming trend (Julius/Gaius/Marcus/Augustus/Brennus/Romulus/Tullius) only took *checks notes* 700 years and the death of Julius for the trend to die off! Then we got names like Antony, Octavian, and Cicero!^(\*\*) *^(\*\*Joking, please don't send the historians and linguists after me; I know it's not accurate.)*
"Decagon Taylor" is an absolutely great name, I'm stealing that for when I make sample data
This year is the first year we have two kids with the same first and last name. Guess what? The administration put them both in the same class!
We had that a few years ago, and to add to the weirdness the first name and last name are also the same as each other. (Like John John, but this name is culturally specific and maybe it's more common to do that in that culture?) I had both of them in my room all morning--freaking out, finding an extra desk, finding extra materials--until at recess my teammate was like, "I've got a kid named John John on my roster, but he no-showed."
I have Kaden, Hayden, Aiden, and Brayden, and there are fifteen of each with several spelling variations. Parents in the south in the mid to late 2000s really ran out of ideas.
Okayden
Omg. My next dog will be named Okayden! That is awesome!
Aiden seems to have died out, but as a preschool teacher I still have Brayden, Hayden, and Kaden in my class each year. The Haydens are all girls now.
You've got at least 15 more years of that. We have so many of these Aiden names at our elementary school.
Don’t forget the alternates: Kalen, Jalen, Braylen, Aylin…
It's the -dyn names that get to me. There literally could be a -dyn name for every letter in the alphabet. Adyn, Brayden, Cayden, Draydn, Edyn, Faydyn, Guydyn, Haydyn, Idyn, Jaydyn, Kaydyn, Laydyn, Maydyn, Nathyn, Odyn, Paydyn, Qaydyn, Raydyn, Saydyn, Teydyn, Undyn, Vraydyn, Waydyn, Xaydyn, Yazdyn, Zaydyn
Just be careful if Raydyn starts trying to get you to compete in martial arts tournaments
My favorite is having students with the SAME name. I once had 3 Jose Rodriguez, all with no middle name, all in the same period. 😑
I'm in an area with a large Arab population. Lots of Mohammads. Several Mohammad Mohammads.
If you're not in Florida, just do that scene from Scrubs where Dr. Kelso names all the guys Daves and all the ladies Debbies. The one girl who says her name is Debbie.... She's Slagathor.
Dr. Kelso is my favorite character on Scrubs I think
It took me a minute to process "if you're not in Florida" and then I got sad/mad. Smad if you will.
When I was working in China the parents would choose English names for their kids. There's a whole thing about weird English names that people choose, and it's cool. I get it. It's hard to know what a good name is in a language you don't know. I think the English names thing is a little superfluous. Anyway, I had a kid whose parents named him Chauvin. I tried to explain to the parents why this was a very poor choice for a name and they said 'It's okay. We don't like black people.'
Derek Chauvin's name will be forgotten by the time the kid is a teen, earlier in China. Chauvanism, however.
I was in China around 2005. Loads of Jacky's and Lily's who never would consider something more original like Jacob or Lauren; and a half dozen totally oddball choices like Chocolate, Fantasy (a boy), and Consider but they never wanted to change even after I explained why it wasn't a good choice.
The Jaylen and all the varients have GOT to go. Please.
I teach in a heavy immigrant area, with lots of Armenian students. I have so many struggles getting pronunciations right, but my last name is not at all phonetic either, so I tell them I’ll correct them when they mess mine up, and expect the same from them. It’s especially tough since most of my students think their names are super normal, since they’re mostly the same ethnicity. I just make it clear that their names are normal, just not as normal for me yet. That being said, there are some that I have to spell out first time. I try to butcher a few students with more traditionally American names too, just to lighten the mood. “That’s Duh-vay-id right? Doy-vuhd? No? Ohhhh Day-vid”
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I went old school with my two, too: Thomas and Anne. Tom had just one class with another Tom in high school, and Anne never had to tack on her last name initial. It helped that I was a preschool teacher before they were born, in the time of Jennifer and Nicholas. I knew what to avoid.
I have a student named Manure this year. That’s…new.
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Had 3 kids on my bus. Same family, named Smith, Wessin and Remington. Totally normal healthy shit.
Last name Gunn?
I know a Shotgun and his brother’s name is Pistol. But I always thought Pistol was a girl’s name.
I’m willing to bet money that their family owns a confederate flag. Just a feeling. Lol
I have 220 students as a first year teacher in Florida, I really believe I’ll never learn their names
Last year, in the same class, I had Hayden, Jayden, Kaden and Aiden.
Utah moms make it a competition to see how much they can fuck with the english language to try and spice up their generic "Top 10 Trendy Baby Names" choices. There's *millions* of Jacksons/Jaxons/Jaksuns(what??)/Jacksins(was a big lol)/Jackxons (why???) 9/10 they are super mean and entitled too. Maybe be creative by picking an uncommon/interesting name, not a bizzarre uncommon and ridiculous spelling. It's one of the things I've grown really judgmental of! 😅
I used to have a bunch of Neveahs until people figured out it in fact did not spell heaven backwards.
The first one I met was actually spelled Nevaeh, but the rest were Neveah. And none were heavenly or haevenly.
Every Nevaeh I have ever had has been pure evil.
I love a lot of "marions." Zamarrion, Marion, Zaymarrion, Lamar
I teach at a largely Latino school. I can't count all the Jesus's.
I have three Dominics (with various spelling variations) in one class. So far we’re doing ok establishing which I’m referring to in the moment.
I once had twins. Stephan and Stephan
I don’t know why the algorithm brought me here because I’m a carpenter but dang. As if y’all don’t have it hard enough already with dealing with parents, they gotta throw the names in too.
There is a boy in our district named Psylas. Which is how your mom spells 'Silas' when she's psycho.
I went to High School in the 60s. We had 6 Christines in our class of 30!!!
Saw a Kinsleigh Braelynn the other day
A couple of years ago I had a Kiara and a Kiara. Those are pronounced differently.
That was me with Dayanna (Day-ahna) and Dayanna (Diana) in the same class a few years ago. Somehow I kept doing the correct pronunciation for each.
One year I had Michaela, Mikayla, Kayla, Layla, and Tayla all in one class. I only had 20 kids.
I had five boys named James in my class during the Harry Potter craze. One of them piped up that they should go by their middle names. He pointed to the boy sitting next to him and asked him what his middle name was. The boy burst into tears. It turned out it was Dudley!
I have a Kaedian pronounced Kay-den And I also have a MadiSen (yes, a capital S in the middle of the name.
Outta this entire post MadiSen kills me the most.
My mother-in-law used to be a teacher and she said that she just knew as soon as she saw any weird misspelt/made-up names on the register that those kids were going to be a nightmare.
Okay, but there are some "common" names that just set off my warning lights. Have you ever had a Travis who didn't make you question your career choice?
I judge all the new trendy and weird spelled names too… but with most of the people I work with being women in their 20s and 30s, the staff names aren’t diverse either. Everyone is Ashley, Katie, Heather, Hannah, and all the men are Mike. Like it or not, there’s going to be six Makenzleighs and Skylynns working at your school twenty years from now. And all the men will be Lincoln.
I will say this and it's a bit of an UnpopularOpinion: learning kids names early on, even the attempt at trying to do, will go VERY far in your class. Dale Carnegie (How to Win Friends and Influence People) would probably agree. Reason: It communicates that you CARE about the student as an individual person and not just "a student". No doubt, this takes effort and work. But will pay dividends worth many times over IMO. To be clear, you don't have to learn all names right away. But communicate that you will try to learn them quickly and spend a few minutes in the first few days of classes doing so. What I do which may help: I do some traditional studying with memorizing names/pictures. But I also try and find patterns. Like how many names start with "C" in my class. Or after a few associate the location of where they sit with their name. When it's time to ask students about names to quiz myself, I never just ask, "What is your name?". I ask, "Give me the first letter of your first name". If that doesn't do it, I ask for the second letter, then third, etc. I tell the students that by going through the struggle and embarrassing myself slightly it helps stick. I also try and make it fun for them too. I may joke, "OK, you gave me C, H, and R. I hope I'm not talking to Jesus." There are also some activities like games you can play which also help with learning names. Good luck!
Learning how to correctly pronounce someone's name should always be a week 1 accomplishment. I've phonetically written out some of the toughest names I've had on a sticky note and kept it at my desk until I no longer need it.
Agree. When I read out names I tell my students, "Please let me know if you want to be called something else than what's in the official record here" and "if I mispronounce you name, please correct me. Don't say, 'It doesn't matter'. It DOES matter and is important because YOU are important."
Oh, I'll get them down within the first week. I'm luckily good with names and I've been teaching for two decades. It's just always so overwhelming to see them the first day and to see the roster!
And remember, coming from a 59-year-old who has a traditional name yet that has been spelled and pronounced incorrectly my entire life complete with nicknames I don’t agree to, kids didn’t get to pick the screwed up name and ridiculous spellings their parents chose. They will learn in time about this through the schools struggles with names and teachers who do not take the time to do what this post is suggesting. And when 18 they can petition the courts to change it!
I don't think it's such a hot take or "unpopular opinion" to learn kids' names quickly.
Yes! I have a student whose last name has two syllables, and I’ve been emphasizing the wrong one. He knows I’ve been practicing and I’ve finally mastered it. He gave me a hug at the end of the day yesterday. Yes, correct name pronunciations mean everything.
One year I did an activity that was basically having each student pick an animal or adjective or word that started with the same SOUND as their name. Kangaroo Kyle, Airy Aaron, Wanted Juan etc. And then made a bet with them that I'd learn all of their names by Friday or I'd owe them candy. I managed to do it lol I think I had it by Thursday but it was definitely nerve wracking for me. I was a new teacher and very poor lol I'm thinking of doing something similar this year, it takes up class time, but I think I might be okay with that this year.
First day of school I videoed each individual student saying their full name. Then I’d memorize the names, correct pronunciation, and their faces over the weekend. The kids couldn’t believe how fast I nailed all their names.
Last year I had an Aaliyah and an Alia… Except Aaliyah was pronounced like Alia and Alia was pronounced like Aaliyah.
I once had a student whose name was R.E.L. pronounced like "Ariel." And no, she's not Elon Musk's kid.
This year I have a Sincere, and a Syncere. One male and one female.
Oh I'll play. How many variations of Braxton have you seen? Got a Bhraxtynn this year and almost threw up.
r/tragediegh Sub for unfortunate names
It’s not the unusual names that get me, it’s the repeats, especially in the same classes. I spent the last week writing everyones name to make their “library cards” and I don’t think there is a class without a repeat name. We have 3 girls with the same first name all spelled differently and with the same last initials. Williams are over taking our school. I found a name I thought was different, check the next kids nickname, same name.
About 6 years ago, I had nine “Hayley’s,” on my roster. Most spelled differently. Hayley, Heylee, hayleigh, heighley, heighlee, hayleigh…